What is it like to be Portuguese? Perhaps you will only really know if you are. But I was about to go and live in Portugal, so I wondered just how much of the culture would rub off on me. Would I become like them? Would I like their lifestyle so much I would never want to leave? This is an account of the thirteen years I spent in Portugal, as well as of some of the other Portuguese colonies that I have visited. How it affected my life and how I became Portuguese. Ish

Sunday, January 07, 2007

ABOUTI have taken a Nome de plume for this book - which is A. Bife.

Portuguese may enjoy the joke as ‘um bife’ is their nickname for any Brit (m) and I believe it owes its origins to the British enjoyment of roast beef.

(Or maybe the Portuguese enjoyment of roast Brits - who knows.)

I would like to thank every Portuguese who showed me hospitality and kindness during my stay in their country - and for showing me pity for being a Bife.

This book may contain statements of a controversial nature - they do not represent the views of anyone I know, or have met either in Portugal, or anywhere else and are entirely my own conclusions

All events are real; I have merely changed some of the names of the participants. (In case they decide to either disown, or sue me.)

I would be very interested to hear of anyone’s comments to these contents and this blogsite is for this purpose - which will contain extracts from the book.

You will be able to add your comments to the various chapters by clicking on ‘Comments’ and following the on-line instructions.